"It really ended up being a very personal decision as to what is my next role in life?" Cigarroa said at a press conference Monday morning. "What’s the next mountain I want to climb?"

Cigarroa said he's proud of his accomplishments, including the Dell Medical School coming to UT-Austin; an expanding Engineering school, also at the flagship campus; and a new university in the Rio Grande Valley.

Despite those accomplishments, Cigarroa also spent time as chancellor mediating disagreements between the UT Board of Regents and UT-Austin President Bill Powers.

Last year, the Texas Legislature's House Transparency Committee met multiple times to determine whether UT Regent Wallace Hall overstepped his role when he requested thousands of pages of open records from UT-Austin. Some accused Hall of starting a "witch hunt" against President Powers. Despite some criticism, Chancellor Cigarroa ultimately recommended Powers keep his job as president.

At Monday's press conference, Cigarroa brushed off suggestions his resignation had anything to do with the tensions between the regents and Powers. But others – like state Sen. Judith Zaffirini – disagreed.

"Undeniably … he has endured unmitigated stress from the rogue regents who want UT President Bill Powers fired," Sen. Zaffirini said in a statement. "Those who were unhappy with his recommendation to continue the heavily supported employment of President Powers reportedly turned their powerful weapons on him."

"In the past year, the UT System has lost five attorneys with decades of combined experience in open government, open records and transparency. Now, it has lost its chief leader," Martinez-Fisher said in a statement. "I am concerned that without proper leadership and experienced staff there will be continued communication and administrative issues between the Board of Regents and the component institutions of the System."

Martinez-Fisher says when the committee reconvenes it, "will need to discuss these on-going concerns at the System, the Chancellor’s departure, and the timeline and process to fill this critical position.”

Cigarroa says he plans to remain chancellor until the Board of Regents names his successor, a process that's expected to take four to six months.

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The UT Board of Regents is expected to discuss the employment of University of Texas at Austin President Bill Powers during its executive session today. It’s the first time his employment has been placed on the agenda for discussion – and the latest development in what’s become a power struggle among state leadership.

The scene: boardrooms, committee chambers or behind closed doors. The characters: men who hold power in the Texas capitol, or the UT Tower. But how did the situation get to this point?

Update: The UT Board of Regents' decision to release public documents to the Texas legislature didn't stop the state Senate from passing a bill that would limit the board's authority and require new regents to complete an ethics training course. The Senate passed the bill today. It now heads to the House for a vote.

Original Story (1:45 p.m.): The UT System Board of Regents voted Thursday to release all records requested by state lawmakers and ask the state Attorney General to conduct an investigation into the relationship between the UT Law School and the Law School Foundation.

Last week, regents had considered withholding documents from the legislature. Regent James Dannenbaum says that was a miscommunication.